Peer Review

SIOExplorer Digital Library Project

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Oct 24, 2021 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This digital library provides access to data, documents and images from 822 expeditions by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), dating back to 1903. Materials include shipboard data from cruises (sampling information, seismic profiles, meteorology, and others); expedition photographs; bathymetric seamount maps; and educational resources from the Enduring Resources for Earth Sciences Education (ERESE) program. The collection is searchable by two interfaces; one, a basic text search (cruise number, operator, agencies, dates, etc.); and the other, accessible through an interactive map interface.

Type of Material:

Collection

Recommended Uses:

The robust collection of resources at this site could be used in a variety of learning activities including as reading or lecture material, research reporting or presentations as they relate to the collections. The material could be useful in geography, computer science, biology, etc.

Technical Requirements:

The web-based data search is available to any computer with an internet access.

SIOExplorer utilizes Google Maps within the Geo Search.

In the results page for every search, you have the option to "View Results in Google Earth." This link will take you to a single KML file, which includes tracklines and icons for data discovered in the SIOExplorer search interface. The site states to "visit Google Earth to download, or learn more about the stand-alone Google Earth Program."

Though technically accessible on a phone, a large screen, mouse and keyboard are useful.Website worked on both edge and chrome on a Win 10 computer

Identify Major Learning Goals:

In addtion to the collected materials, SIOEploreer provides outreach to various K-12 educators including:

Enduring Resources for Earth Sciences Education (ERESE)-Promoting, creating and publishing of Enduring Resources for Earth Science Education in a collaboration between middle and high school teachers and Earth Scientists.

SIO Collections - Teaching and Outreach-The SIO Oceanographic Collections participate in outreach education at all levels. Activities include:

Public tours and Open Houses
Public presentations
Answering public requests for information and advice
Support of K-12 education through on site class visits, off-campus lectures to classes and loans of study materials to teachers

Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI) Learning- JOI Learning develops programs and materials based on scientific research expeditions to strengthen students' mathematics, science and analytical skills. Our vision is Teaching for Science, Learning for Life™ - using scientific ocean drilling to provide a multidisciplinary approach to earth science education.

We work to equip educators to teach about the earth using all disciplines – from chemistry, physics, biology and math to engineering and technology to reading and writing. We use exploration of the world around us as a model and strive to help students become better decision makers, problem solvers, science-literate citizens and stewards of our planet.

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography-The Birch Aquarium at Scripps is dedicated to providing its guests and community with a sense of wonder and connection to our ocean, earth, and atmosphere through memorable and exciting learning opportunities.

We offer a wide variety of programming for early childhood to adult audiences that engage all levels of learners. Choose from our many interactive and hands-on programs to learn more about the ocean and its inhabitants, Scripps research and discoveries, and how we are all connected to the ocean.

Our experienced and enthusiastic staff and volunteers guide visitors and program audiences through on and off-site programs year round. Come and join the fun at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps!

Target Student Population:

The materials at this site are designed for educators to use in all educational settings including College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional but also could provide materials they can use in K-12 classrooms.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Prequisite knowledge needed to use the site might include some basic search skills and knowledge of meta data, although the site does provide some search help and examples of previous meta data searches.

Some background in earth sciences might be important for understanding and interpreting high level data and other information at the site.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The information at this site is outstanding because it is based upon data gathered by experts in their fields whose methods, prototypes and archiving and preservation program has been funded through the NSF and Library of Congress. The website states that "Each collection represents a unique resource of irreplaceable scientific research." The information comes via a collaborative effort among researchers, computer scientists), and archivists and librarians.

Concerns:

A lack of "how to" and "What to do with the data" steps.

Some example searches are included but some worked examples would help educators highlight how learning can be used.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

This site will provide a wealth of information to be used for lesson planning and assignments. If implemented into a lesson, students will be on the receiving end of factual information that is provided in the context of real expeditions for example, that they can easily relate to their lives.

Once the user finds a page related to a topic they would like to use in a lesson, they will have for example, scientific goals of an expedition along with images, maps, daily blog and more such as other databases, links, publications, etc.

For just one example, the Historical Material - SIO Archive Collection California Explores the Ocean currently includes a collection of 800 black and white photographs, 400 color images, 2000 documents and other resources describing four voyages of HORIZON and other Scripps research ships.

The digital images of historical photographs of Scripps voyages come from the collections of the Scripps Archives. Scripps sailors and scientists often took cameras with them on their voyages and later donated their images to the Scripps Archives.

Expeditions
Photographs & Other Media
Letters, Clippings, Ships' Logs

This would also be a good website to use in a libray search activity. Students could practice their search and visit interesting sites at the same time (perhaps a scavenger hunt?)

Concerns:

A user can easily be overwhelmed by the information available so it is probably best to have a goal in mind prior to searching.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

This website is very easy to navigate and clearly explains what the user will find at the site, however, search skill level may affect the ease in which they find the information they are looking for.

The resources are very easy to find by clicking on in the Access Data tab where it shows click here as it brings up a quick search or a more advanced search box (like Google) where you can really narrow down your search.

An alternative is to go the Collections tab and scroll down for even more databases.

Web interface Query the database

A technical help page is provided along with the statement that if you " ...stil can't get an answer to my question...Send an email to the GDC Staff (gdc at ucsd.edu) and we'll do our best to help.

Concerns:

The user might get bogged down in the technical terms and explanations for how the information is stored and move on to other resources. Stick with it!

Some links did not lead to the page expected but he author has been notified.

Aged, doesn't have image descriptors over pictures, the web interface could be refreshed

Other Issues and Comments:: Site includes tons of factual and anecdoctal information. They don't gather user data so privacy is not an issue. There is a usage policy provided: Usage: A usage policy exists to define the access rights to the data.
Creative Commons: